In the above noted co-pending application, assigned to the assignee of this application, an improved meat cleaning machine is disclosed in which a pair of meat driving cylinders engage a piece of meat and drive it past meat cleaning brushes positioned within the cylinders which quickly and efficiently clean the surfaces of the meat of bone dust and other undesirable material which they collect during the meat sawing and cutting process.
The meat driving cylinders of the above noted machine were designed as an improvement over prior art structures of the type shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,781,936, issued Jan. 1, 1974, wherein the meat driving cylinders are formed with a supporting framework which consists of a pair of end rings interconnected by elongated, arcuate positioning shields. When it is desired to disassemble these cages they must be unbolted using appropriate tools.
To avoid this the machine of the above noted co-pending application is constructed such that the meat driving cylinders are provided with frameworks which consist of a main end member and a pair of cross pieces cantilevered outwardly therefrom. The cross pieces carry at their outer ends upper and lower end pieces which provide seats in alignment with seats on the main end member for internal supports for the meat engaging rings.
With this construction the casting for the ring support must necessarily be fairly substantial because of its cantilevered construction. Despite this there is still some flexure of the cross members when sufficient bending forces are applied to them.
Additionally, in that design at least one of the cross members must be positioned within the interior of the cylinder. This is undesirable, both from the standpoint of cleanliness and because it occupies space in the cylinder which also must accommodate other elements of the apparatus, such as the meat cleaning brushes, a collecting tray and a doctor blade.